


The Great Kings of the Past

by Gimbat_ash



Category: The Lion King (1994), the GazettE
Genre: Adaptation, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Mob, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-06 16:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gimbat_ash/pseuds/Gimbat_ash
Summary: One might call it an AU of an AU. This story follows the plot of The Lion King, but all of the characters are Japanese Visual Kei band members and it's set in 1920s Chicago.





	1. “As the King’s brother, you should have been first in line.”

**Author's Note:**

> There IS some sexual content in this chapter.

The speakeasy was always busy on Friday nights. Everyone knew the place was crawling with mobsters but none of them cared. This was the roaring 20’s, a time to cast off centuries of restriction, a time to go wild. Ruki was no exception to this rule.  
He was currently enjoying a cigarette and the music, or more specifically, the music performer. Sure, the singer was okay, but the beauty at the piano was the only one that mattered to Ruki. Only the Boss’s inner circle knew that Uruha was really a man. That fact deterred most of them from pursuing the Boss’s favored plaything, but not Ruki.  
As he watched Uruha’s graceful hands caress the piano keys, he imagined those long fingers wrapping around his member, or better yet, those full, soft lips. Uruha’s lips were perfection. Uruha was perfection.  
Just as the last chord of the song died away, the door to the Boss’s office swung open and He made a brief appearance. Aoi looked as handsome as ever with his perfect hair and expensive suit. He tapped Uruha on the shoulder, making the beaded fringe on the lovely blonde’s dress clack slightly as he jumped. Aoi’s full lips spread into a grin at this and he motioned Uruha into his office. His smile was returned and, as always, he got what he wanted.  
With the object of his attention out of sight, Ruki resorted to another favorite pastime of his, brooding. Alas, it was not to be either. Ruki had not been brooding three minutes when Reita plopped gracelessly into the chair across from him, at which he rolled his eyes. He didn’t see why this punk was Aoi’s chosen successor. He was quiet and far too laid back to be a mob boss. Not to mention, he could never have Ruki’s style and charisma. It was obvious who the rightful successor was.  
“So, what have you been up to?” Ruki drawled before taking a long drag on his cigarette.  
Reita flicked a lock of golden hair out of his eyes before answering, “Nothing special. I went to the picture show. That’s about it. What about you? Have you been hanging around here all day?” Ruki knew this was as good a chance as any to put his sinister plan into action.  
“Actually, I have been out most of today scouting out a new investment opportunity for the Family.”  
“Oh?”  
“It’s an apartment complex on the south side. Aoi actually wanted me to tell you that he wants you to put an offer on it tomorrow. I told the building manager to expect you. I certainly hope you didn’t have plans for tomorrow.”  
“No, I didn’t. It would be no trouble.”  
“Excellent.” Finished with his cigarette, Ruki snuffed it out in the ashtray. It was all too easy. Reita would soon be out of his way. The poor kid looked so unsuspecting. If Ruki still had a conscience, he might feel sorry for him.  
But then, he noticed that Reita was grinning at him playfully. Did he know something? Not only that, the room seemed to have gotten darker and there was a nice smell in the air, a familiar smell. He twisted around in his chair cautiously. His nose almost touched a solid wall of purple, beaded fringe.  
“Hello, Ruki.”  
“What do you want, Uruha?” Ruki snapped, craning his neck to look at the much taller man. The leggy blonde had mercy on him and knelt down on the floor, leaning leisurely against the table. Unfortunately, while this took the strain off Ruki’s neck, having Uruha kneel in front of him was beginning to strain other areas of his anatomy.  
“Aoi wants to talk to you. Ruki!”  
Ruki snapped out of his fantasy to see that Uruha was scowling.  
“What? I wasn’t listening.”  
“That’s obvious. You need to talk to Aoi. He’s not happy with you.”  
All thoughts of pleasant things left Ruki’s mind as he stomped off to Aoi’s office, grumbling all the way.  
Reita chuckled as Uruha immediately took Ruki’s chair.  
“You’re looking lovely. Are you sure you’re a guy?”  
Uruha took his hand and Reita began to panic when he realized its destination.  
“Um… It’s okay. Uru, I believe you. Holy shit! You’re huge.”  
“You think all the fringe is just for show? It’s not easy hiding all that.”  
Reita looked at him with newfound respect. “You could have anyone you wanted with that thing, you know.”  
Uruha’s lips spread into a devilish grin. “Anyone I want? I’m not doing anything tonight.”  
“No way! Aoi would have my head on a platter. By the way, do you have plans for tomorrow?”  
“Sure, my apartment or yours?”  
“No! Not for that! Aoi wants me to work out a purchase deal for an apartment complex and it would be nice to have the company.”  
Uruha took time to consider this one. He didn’t usually participate in actual Family business.  
“Alright. Give me a phone call to wake me up and I’ll go with you.”  
Relief flooded through Reita’s mind. For some reason, this task made him nervous, but Uruha was reliable and smart in a pinch. Having him along made Reita feel better.

Ruki stormed into Aoi’s office. It was bad enough that he had to come in here, but he didn’t miss that Uruha struck up a conversation with Reita. It seemed like Reita was set to inherit Aoi’s ‘girl’ along with his job.  
Aoi looked up from a letter he was reading.  
“Thank you for coming to see me, Ruki,” he greeted, congenially. Ruki wasn’t fooled.  
“It’s not like I have a choice. What do you want?”  
Aoi got right to the point. “There was a Family meeting Wednesday. You weren’t there. How can I trust you with your turf if you don’t keep me informed?”  
Aoi’s tone was steely but Ruki wasn’t bothered a bit. “There was nothing to report. Why should I go all the way across town when I have nothing to say? Because you say so?”  
Aoi leapt to his feet, temper blazing, “Are you challenging my authority?”  
Ruki just laughed, “Whoa, Boss. Calm down. I didn’t know it meant that much to you.”  
Though he sat down, Aoi’s anger still simmered. “Someone of your rank should want to know what the others have to say. Not only that, I have to be able to trust you and know you’ll do as I ask. If you can’t do such a simple thing as attend a meeting, I’ll have you…taken care of. Do I make myself clear?”  
“Crystal.”  
“Good. Get out of my sight.”


	2. An Elephant Graveyard!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reita follows Ruki's order and gets more than he bargained for.

Reita arrived at the water tower 30 minutes “late” and, as expected, Uruha hadn’t shown up yet. He sat down on a bench and enjoyed the scenery. He’d started his mob career in New York, but quickly got moved to Chicago upon catching Aoi’s eye. He couldn’t have been happier with the change. Chicago was so much more beautiful, the people were more relaxed, even the food had a homier feel in his stomach.   
“Hey, stranger.”   
Uruha looked fantastic in a loose, flowing dress and low heels, an outfit that looked far more comfortable in the stifling summer heat than Reita in his suit. That was the one down side to Chicago: it freezes solid in the winter and boils in the summer.   
“Shall we be off, my lady,” Reita giggled. It was a rare treat to see Uruha out of his nighttime makeup. He lost the dark, sultry look entirely. Instead, he looked bright and fresh. Not only that, if one looked at him in just the right frame of mind, he would see the man behind the mask. Uruha could have been anything and anyone he chose. He looked stunning as either gender.   
It was proving to be a pleasant day admiring the city’s ornate architecture and his “ornate” company. Soon their destination was in sight. The pair nonchalantly strode through the double doors, opened by the doorman. Reita spotted the front desk and asked the young man stationed there if he could see the building manager. The youth looked positively ashen at the request but obeyed, albeit hesitantly, going off to relay their request.  
“The Boss says he’ll see you. Follow me.”  
As they followed, Uruha gripped Reita’s arm, whispering, “’The Boss’? I don’t like this one bit. Did Aoi tell you to come here himself?”  
Reita’s heart beat faster but he kept his cool. “Not directly but I trust the messenger. Relax Uru. It’ll be fine.”  
Uruha just pouted and didn’t let go of him. The desk clerk knocked on the door with a nameplate reading “Mr. Atsushi Sakurai”.   
“You may enter,” called a deep, heavily accented voice.   
The clerk opened the door revealing a darkly handsome man of indeterminable age. The man, presumably Atsushi Sakurai, got up to shake each of their hands, before seating himself back behind his desk.  
“What can I do for you?” he asked.  
Uruha was shivering a bit but Reita plowed ahead. “I’m here to negotiate the purchase of this building. You were told to expect me.”  
“What?” Atsushi laughed. “Kids, you have the wrong place. Go home and figure out where you’re supposed to be.”  
“Our apologies, sir. He won’t…”  
Reita cut Uruha off, “Do not speak to me in such a manner! I’m here representing Aoi and you know it.”  
Recognition dawned in Atsushi’s eyes and, in that moment, Reita knew he’d made a mortal error.  
“Aoi? Do not even mention my vile enemy’s name in my presence!” Atsushi yelled, and snapped his fingers at a door to the left. The door slammed open and the pair hit the floor just in time to avoid the spray of machine gun fire.   
They could hear an uproar in the lobby, growing steadily nearer, and then the office door burst open. More shots rang out and a rough hand grabbed Reita, pulling him out the door. Reita was about to protest until he saw Uruha sprinting ahead of them. He had pulled a handgun from somewhere under his dress and shot down the thugs trying to block their escape route. The guy holding his arm was shooting too, and he realized that it was Aoi. In the midst of all the chaos, all he could think was, “I messed up. I messed up.” A car screeched up outside the building. Uruha dove in but he wasn’t fast enough. A bullet clipped his shoulder. Amazingly, it didn’t slow him down. He grabbed the shotgun apparently stashed nearby and covered Aoi and Reita until they entered the car safely and they were speeding back to their territory.   
Reita breathed a sigh of relief. Then his body slammed into the side of the car.  
“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Aoi screamed. “You can’t just act on your own like that. You put yourself and Uruha in danger.”  
In his rage, Aoi began to punch Reita in the face.  
“Stop!” Uruha yelled. His voice was deep and commanding in a way Reita had never heard. Aoi lowered his arms and instead crossed them to sulk in the corner of the back seat. “Look, everything turned out okay. Calm down and we’ll talk about this when we get home.”  
“Where are we going, by the way?” Shou, the driver, asked.   
“We’ll head back to my place,” Aoi replied.   
Shou nodded. He was Aoi’s personal driver and one of the few people who knew where Aoi lived. Reita himself had only been to Aoi’s townhouse three or four times. Though he suspected Shou did a lot of shuttling between Aoi’s house and Uruha’s apartment.   
It wasn’t long before they pulled up to the posh townhouse on Prairie Avenue, once the Park Avenue of Chicago. Now the area was in decline as the rich moved into suburbia and industry moved in, but the beautiful historic houses, spared by the Great Chicago Fire, remained. It was the perfect place for a mob boss to hole up in luxury.   
Shou drove off as soon as the trio was through the door. Uruha seemed to know his way around quite well as he hurried off to the bathroom, dress stained and blood seeping from between his fingers.   
“Is he going to be alright?” Reita asked cautiously.  
“He’s had worse,” Aoi muttered dismissively, heading toward the kitchen. Reita kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat and hat before sitting down on the couch to do some sulking of his own.   
Aoi wasn’t about to allow that. When he reentered he room, he shoved a glass of brandy into Reita’s hands. He then set an open bottle of vodka on the end table and sat down in the couch opposite Reita.  
“You are so lucky Uruha always leaves a note telling me where he’s going to be. He’s always prepared. You… You…” Aoi was fighting to keep his notorious temper in check.  
“You didn’t even know you were trying to buy a building from the Japanese mafia! You didn’t do any research before waltzing off to spend the family’s money!”  
“I’m sorry.” It was all Reita could say.  
Aoi’s expression softened and he sighed. “Reita, someday I’m not going to be here to lead this group and everything will be up to you. When you accepted your position, you also accepted a responsibility to do your absolute best and be thorough. You are responsible for everyone and everything and if you screw up, the Family falls. Not only will you have to look before you leap but write a dissertation about the physics of leaping and carefully file it. Then you can leap. Do you understand what I’m saying?”  
Aoi was smiling now. Reita wasn’t sure if it was that or the brandy, but he was feeling a lot more relaxed. He nodded to affirm that he understood. There was one thing bugging him though but all thoughts of such matters left his mind when Uruha walked out.   
Having ditched his bloodstained dress, Uruha was wearing nothing but a pair of grey slacks. He wasn’t even wearing makeup and his chin-length hair was unstyled.  
“Hi Uruha,” Reita choked out. “You look…like a man.”  
“That’s what I am, isn’t it,” he muttered as he pounced on the vodka Aoi left, for him apparently, and took a huge gulp. Thankfully, it looked like the bullet had only nicked the skin of Uruha’s shoulder without doing much damage. The bleeding had stopped and there was gauze over the wound.   
Aoi was staring at him the whole time but it look a little bit for Uruha to take his attention away from the alcohol long enough to get creeped out.   
“Why are you looking at me like that?”  
“For a moment I thought I was going to lose you.”  
Uruha rolled his eyes, then scooted closer. “You could make it up to me.”  
“Uru, not with Reita here,” Aoi grumbled, blushing furiously.   
“Why not? He said just yesterday that I could have anyone I want. Do you think your ass can take me today?”  
Reita’s eyes were bugging out of his head at this point. Aoi wasn’t fucking Uruha. Uruha was fucking Aoi!   
“I’m not really in the mood,” Aoi insisted.  
“But I am,” Uruha countered.  
“It’s Reita’s fault I’m not feeling up to it. Make him take care of you.”  
Reita looked like the deer in headlights when Uruha turned to face him with a predatory expression on his face. To his relief, Uruha said, “That’s okay. I’ll wait.”  
Right then, Reita decided that Uruha was scary. Ridiculously handsome, but scary and he was glad this guy was on his side. Aoi got up and headed to the kitchen, presumably for a drink, and Uruha went back to his beloved vodka bottle. This left Reita to sit in silence and go back to wallowing in shame over his mistakes. Then that thought came back to him. He got up and sat down again next to Uruha. The alluring blonde already smelled of booze and his eyes were acquiring that glazed look. Still, he had to tell him this thought.   
“Uruha?”  
Uruha leaned in close. “You change your mind?”  
“No, no, no,” Reita interjected quickly, scooting back a bit. “I have to tell you something. It’s important.”  
The other nodded and his expression turned serious.  
“Uru, Ruki told me Aoi wanted me to purchase that building. That’s why I didn’t look into it.”  
“That’s stupid,” Uruha slurred. “Aoi would never send you there.”  
“I know! That’s what worries me.”  
“You’re not saying you think Aoi’s trying to kill you, are you? Why would he come and rescue you if he was?”  
Reita though about his conclusion and realized how ridiculous it was. Still, that left only one, troubling option.  
“That means Ruki wants to kill me.”  
Uruha pressed his lips together, forcing his inebriated brain to get cranking. He took another swig of vodka, as though he thought that might help then set the bottle back on the table. “It could be Ruki’s idea of a sick joke. I dunno. I’ll talk to Aoi about it and we’ll keep an eye on Ruki. Dun worry. We love you.”  
Before he could get away, Uruha jumped him and started kissing him. Reita squirmed in protest but that only aroused Uruha further. He moaned into the kiss and began to grind his hips against Reita. Against his will, Reita’s own hips began to move against Uruha’s.   
“Would you two like to be alone?”  
The blood froze in Reita’s veins. He wouldn’t have to worry about Ruki. Aoi would probably kill him right now.   
“Join us, Aoi,” Uruha urged.   
“Do you have any plans for tomorrow, Reita?” Aoi asked.  
‘When I’m the Boss, I’m going to ban that question. It never leads to anything good,’ Reita thought.  
“No matter,” Aoi continued. “I know you don’t.”  
Aoi ‘s shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his toned torso. Reita couldn’t deny that Aoi and Uruha were very attractive, but…  
“Guys, I can’t. It would be like having sex with my brothers,” Reita explained.   
The others nodded in understanding and Aoi plopped down on the couch. All three men sat side by side and let out a collective sigh. It had been a long day.


	3. Be Prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth about Ruki

“Thank you all for meeting with me tonight,” Ruki’s voice resonated through the room. “As you all know by now, we are on the cusp of the ultimate coup d'état. Not only will we become the dominant Family in America, we will be the downfall of the “great” Aoi. Those of you participating in the initial operation, have your orders. The rest of you, be on the lookout. I’ll give word when I have control of the Family. Any questions?”  
Silence reigned for a moment. Despite his diminutive height, Ruki’s charisma was larger than life and his spell took a few moments to wear off. There were questions, however.  
Tsukasa spoke up, frowning, “Why are you the leader, again? It isn’t like we don’t all have leadership skills.”  
Ruki wasn’t fazed a bit. “If you think you can get Aoi’s people to follow you, be my guest. I just thought they would be more likely to follow me as I’m a logical contender to lead the Family anyway.”  
There was a disappointed murmur of acknowledgment.  
“Where will we stand in this…new world order or yours?” Hizumi asked, suspiciously.   
“You will all be above Aoi’s lackeys. You can count on that. A good ruler knows to keep his army well paid.”  
A few people chuckled at the last statement and the mood in the room lightened considerably. Everyone present seemed convinced the Ruki intended to keep them all as happy as he could.   
“No more questions? Well, thank you all for meeting with me. As you all go to your respective homes, do so knowing that the next time we meet like this will be the dawning of a new era.”


	4. Simba, it’s to die for.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruki is Scar. Aoi is Mufasa. We all remember what happened to Mufasa, right? It's not going to be pretty.

“You think you’ll be okay?”  
Reita gave Ruki a confused look. “Of course I’ll be okay. Ruki, this is something like my 20th bank robbery. I think I know what I’m doing.”   
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Ruki conceded. “After you get the money, I have a surprise for you.”  
“Oh really,” Retia remarked, tying this trademark band across his nose. “Is this a good surprise?”  
Ruki smiled reassuringly, “It’s to die for.”  
Reita just grunted noncommittally, and went off to do his job. In doing so, he missed the transformation of Ruki’s innocent expression into something truly sinister. He also missed the groups of men lurking in the shadows as he and his team entered the bank.   
“Alright people, hands up. This is a robbery,” Reita called out, firing a few shots into the ceiling to show he meant business. Amid the screams and scrambling of the customers, the bank tellers were calmer but still antsy. As his men secured the customers, Reita picked out one of the bank tellers.   
“You, go empty the safe and bring the money here. No funny business or your friends here get it.”  
The frightened man nodded and hurried to do as he was asked. Whispers were beginning to circulate though the customers as people recognized who Reita was. The mobsters let this whispering pass. It only added to their legend. These people would talk to others and the fear of them would spread.   
The teller returned with as much cash as he could carry. Just as he was about to hand it over, shots exploded from the doorway. A rival group showed up to take the spoils for itself.   
~  
Ruki skidded into the café, where Aoi and Uruha waited nearby just in case something went wrong. Something had indeed gone wrong this day.   
“Aoi!” he gasped out. “I just saw a bunch of guys going in after Reita’s group. He needs help!”  
All three of them sprinted back to the bank. Uruha arrived first just as their rivals fired the first few rounds.   
~  
It was an all out mob war now. The tellers and customers scattered but Reita didn’t care at this point. He’s be lucky to get out with his life let alone the money. The surprise attack took out half his men and though he and his remaining allies were now making some progress, it was too little too late. The lead gangster aimed straight at Reita. This was the end of the line.  
Reita winced at the sharp bang that followed, but there was no pain. Instead, the would-be shooter fell face down and his companions were turning to toward some new threat. Reita wasted no time. He opened fire. For all he knew a third mob could have shown up.   
The situation was not that unfortunate, however. Uruha, Aoi and Ruki burst through the battle lines. “Reita, get out of here!” Aoi screamed over the din. Reita didn’t stop to think. He just ran through the momentary gap, his men following close behind. The gap was closing fast. He pushed himself to the limit and barely made it out of the bank, bullets ricocheting off the pavement and surrounding buildings. He realized that three men were chasing him and became even more frantic. Police sirens wailed in the distance. It felt as though the entire city was after him. Where could he go? How could he hide? Yes, there was a train station around this corner. He skidded to make the turn and dove into the crowd. His pursuers yelled after him.  
“You’d better get out of here! Show your face again and you’re dead just like your Boss!”  
~  
The survivors clustered around Aoi, more than really to fight to the death at the side of their beloved leader. They defended him bravely to the last. When another path opened in the fray, Uruha plunged through the opening. He didn’t get far. To everyone’s shock, Ruki shot him in the back.  
“I know you too well, Uruha my beauty. You can’t be running off to get reinforcements,” Ruki mocked. Then he turned back to what was left of the battle. Aoi was in a standoff with Ruki’s last man standing.  
“Ruki, help me here,” Aoi called out.   
Ruki just smiled triumphantly and pointed his gun at Aoi. The man’s dark eyes filled with despair, realizing he’d been betrayed.   
“Long live the king.”  
And it was over.


	5. Hakuna Matata

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the depths of his despair, Reita finds an unlikely friend.

It had been a week and Reita was dirty and tired and still dazed. He took train after train bound for places more and more remote. Now he was out of money and stranded in the middle of Wyoming. The mob would never find him here. No one would find him here. He felt ridiculously out for place in his expensive suit and leather shoes, dirty and stained though they were. There was nothing to be done now. A single tear traced a line in the dust clinging to his skin. This was a good place to disappear, a good place to die.   
“Hey, what’s the matter? That is, if you don’t mind me asking?”  
Reita looked up to meet a pair of sympathetic brown eyes gazing at him from under the brim of a hat and shaggy bangs. If circumstances had been better, he would have found this man delightfully quaint. As it was, he spilled his guts. What did he have to lose?   
“Aoi is dead and it’s all my fault and Uruha and Ruki are probably dead too. If they hadn’t tried to save me… I can never face the rest of the Family because they have to know it’s my fault by now and it doesn’t matter because the other family will kill me if I go back and…”  
“Woah, woah,” the cowboy cut him off. “It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. If you can’t go back, you can stay with me as long as you need to.”  
“Really?” Reita sniffed. “But you don’t even know me.”  
The cowboy smiled cheerfully. “We all look out for each other out here and I could use another cattle hand. My name is Kai, by the way.”  
Reita returned the smile though weakly. “I’m Reita. Thank you, Kai. I won’t let you down.”  
“I know you won’t.” Kai’s grin hadn’t wavered. “Let’s get you to a room and into some sensible clothes. You look like an idiot in that suit.”  
“But you’re wearing a suit too,” Retia pointed out.  
Kai looked down at his own garb as if for the first time. “Oh yeah. No wonder my pants are riding up.”   
~  
Reita passed two happy years with Kai and the two bonded like brothers. It turned out that Kai was a wealthy rancher and he shipped his cattle all over the country. At first herding the cattle was overwhelming. Not to mention, he’d never seen so much open space in this life let alone had free reign of it. He grew to love it though. Soon he was watching the ranch while Kai was away on business. When Kai was home, they would ride together and talk for hours as the cattle grazed. There was a pretty high turnover rate in the cattle hands but Reita stayed. He felt like he owed Kai. He had fully intended to wander out into wilderness to die. Instead, he went into it with Kai and got his life back.   
Tonight was like many others. The two best friends sat on the porch under the stars, digesting a hardy meal of chili and corn bread. Kai was going to leave on another trip in the morning.  
“Did you remember to pack your cufflinks?”  
Kai looked sheepish. “I lost them.”  
“What about your other pair.”  
Kai didn’t answer but he really didn’t need to by now.  
“You can borrow mine but if you lose them I’ll kill you.”  
“You’re the best!” Kai lunged in for a hug only to be pushed back into his chair roughly. “You know,” he continued as though nothing happened, “I was sort of hoping you would come with me this time.”   
Reita shook his head resolutely. “No. I’d really rather not.”  
“Rei, you’ve been on the ranch for two years strait. Don’t you want to get out a little bit?”  
“I’m happy here,” he insisted. “Where are you off to anyway?”  
“It’s a really routine trip, just to a distributor in Chicago.”  
Kai didn’t miss Reita’s alarm. “What’s that matter? Is that were you’re from?”  
“Yeah. I can’t go back there.”  
“Maybe you should go there. Then you’ll see you don’t have to be afraid. I doubt anyone will even recognize you.”  
“You think?”  
“I guess you don’t realize how much you’ve changed these past years. You might not even see anyone you know anyway. Chicago’s a big city.”  
Reita pondered this new idea. He stood up abruptly.  
“Fine. I’ll go with you. I’m going to bed now.”


	6. Can you feel the love tonight?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reita is back in Chicago and things get a bit steamy with an old friend

It was so surreal to walk through Grant Park again. The moist lake air was so different from that of landlocked Wyoming. Kai was off on business. It turned out this trip was a plot to give Reita a vacation and now that he was here, he was glad. He hadn’t seen anyone he knew, just as Kai said. Right now, he was on a quest to see the colossal Buckingham Fountain that apparently had been installed while he was away. It was supposed to be one of the biggest in the world.   
He was beginning to hear the sound of splashing water so he knew he must be close. The path he walked right now was narrow and tree-lined so he couldn’t see very far ahead. Once he passed the final tree, he saw it silhouetted against the seemingly endless lake. Chicago’s infamous wind blew in over the water, ruffling his hair and sending a light mist from the fountain. The moment felt so perfect. He walked lazily around the fountain, examining it from all angles. There was such a relaxed feeling in the air that he never remembered from his former life here. Even the early September chill didn’t spoil the moment. Wyoming was just as cold so he was still quite used to it.   
“Excuse me, sir.”  
Reita turned to face the speaker and his heart skipped a beat.  
“I knew it!” the other man whispered almost reverently. “Reita! You’re back.”  
“Uruha? You’re alive?”  
“As far as I know. Oh my God, Reita… Where are you staying? We have to talk.”  
“I’m here on business with my employer. He’s out right now though so we could go back to my hotel.”  
Uruha nodded eagerly and followed Reita all the way to his room. It was obviously taking all of Uruha’s will power not to jump up and down and hug the stuffing out of Reita but he knew better than to make a spectacle. He hardly recognized the beautiful blonde in a suit and fedora. He looked more like the mobster he was than a flapper. A thought occurred to Reita then and he voiced it the moment the door to his bedroom closed.   
“Are you the Boss now, Uruha?”  
Uruha’s eyes narrowed. “No.”  
Reita could sense that there was more to it than that but he didn’t press the matter. After a second silence they launched into an almost desperate hug and they stood clinging to each other as though they had to reassure themselves moment by moment that this was real.   
When they finally loosened their grip, they stood face to face still saying nothing. Reita looked into Uruha’s eyes and somehow he knew he was ready to take him up on his offer of years ago. He leaned in and captured Uruha’s lips with his own. His advances were returned with surprising force and he relaxed and gave in. He let Uruha undress him feverishly and realized that he too was undressing Uruha. When both of their clothes were strewn all over the room, Reita climbed onto the bed, pulling Uruha with him.  
“Take me,” Reita urged. “Take me like you took Aoi.”  
Uruha complied though his eyes swam with tears as first, before fighting back the still raw pain. Reita knew for sure now. Aoi was dead and somewhere in the back of his mind, he understood that by doing this, Uruha was acknowledging him as leader. He didn’t want to focus on that now that Uruha’s spit slicked fingers were preparing him. With practiced ease, he stroked the perfect spots in the hot passage. A tickle of hair on his leg was the only warning Reita got before Uruha practically swallowed him. His fingers buried themselves in the blonde locks, urging Uruha on. A moan escaped his lips and he lifted a one of his hands from Uruha’s head to muffle the ones that followed it. Already, Reita could tell this was going to be the best sex he’d ever had. It could have been because he was deprived but it didn’t really matter.   
“Uruha! Stop playing around and put it in. Fuck me with that giant cock of yours.”  
“Holy crap!”  
Neither heard anyone enter the suite, but Kai stood in the bedroom door nonetheless. He looked absolutely petrified, too. Then Reita realized that it might have something to do with the fact that Uruha was pointing a gun at him.  
“Who are you?”Uruha bit out.  
“What do you mean ‘Who am I?’. Who are you?” Kai squeaked.   
Reita figured he had better sort this out before the situation got ugly. “Back off, Uruha. This is Kai, my employer. Kai, leave so we can get dressed. Order us some tea or something.”  
“Tea… Okay, tea,” Kai muttered, shutting the bedroom door.   
“I’m so sorry, Rei. Did I get you fired?” Uruha asked softy as he pulled his clothes on.  
Reita chuckled and began to get dressed himself. “No, don’t worry about it. Kai sees me more as a long lost brother that he just so happens to pay every month.”  
The two finished dressing in silence. When Uruha returned from washing his hands and rinsing his mouth that the bathroom sink, they went out into the sitting room.


	7. He lives in you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Reita have it in him to step up and take charge?

Kai was just closing the door after the room service personnel. To make things interesting, Reita sat down in the armchair, leaving Kai and Uruha to sit together on the couch. As expected, Kai seemed more than a little afraid of Uruha. Forcing himself to relax, Reita spoke first.  
“Kai, I have a confession to make. I wasn’t entirely forthcoming that day at the train station.”  
Kai cut in. “It’s alright with me if you like men. I’m not one to judge another’s preferences.”  
“Even I didn’t know that until today,” Reita assured. Then he took a breath in preparation for his true confession.   
“Remember what I said that day about why I left my old home?”  
“Yeah, you said you thought it was your fault some people in your family died, but I think whatever it was… Wait a minute! You’re Uruha! That’s disgusting.”  
“Excuse me?” Uruha growled.   
“But you’re related and you were…doing things.” Kai looked about to short circuit but Uruha relaxed immediately, even giggled.   
“We’re not family,” Uruha explained. “We’re in the family.”  
Kai had what must have seemed his hundredth horrifying revelation of that day. “So when you said you couldn’t face the family, you meant the family.”  
“Yes,” Reita confirmed.  
“You were running from the mob.”  
“Exactly.”  
“And you,” he turned to Uruha, “are still in the mob.”  
“Sort of,” Uruha answered.  
“Hmmm,” Kai mused, pouring some tea for himself. “That would explain why you’re so trigger-happy and that nasty scar on your back.”  
“I didn’t notice it,” Reita said.  
Uruha obliged Reita’s curiosity and lifted the back of his shirt.  
“Ouch! When did you get that?”  
“That day at the bank. Stupid bastard Ruki shot me!”  
Reita took a bite of a cookie. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to.”  
Uruha broke into manic laughter and Kai scooted away from him. “Didn’t mean to? He meant to shoot me alright, just like he meant to shoot Aoi in the head, just like he meant to take Aoi’s position and make me his personal bitch. All along, he was plotting and I didn’t see it. I should have…”  
A sob cut off Uruha’s words and he dissolved into tears. Kai slid back across the couch, toward Uruha. To Reita’s surprise, he pulled Uruha into this arms and the blonde didn’t pull away.   
With Uruha being taken care of, Reita allowed himself to retreat into thought. Though it seemed inappropriate, he was a little happy. It wasn’t his fault! All of the terrible things that happened were Ruki’s doing. Yes, Ruki’s doing… Reita bit into his cookie as though biting off Ruki’s head. Then he looked over at Kai and Uruha. That must have been what he looked like when he and Kai met. Reita had always thought of Uruha as this infinitely strong divine being, the true power behind Aoi’s iron grip on the mafia. He realized now that Uruha was no different than he. He had all the same hopes and fears, just kept them bottled inside. Then on a whim he asked, “Uruha, when were you born?”  
Uruha’s teary eyes met his and though he looked confused, he answered. “June 8th, 1897. Why?”  
Reita was shocked and he was sure as much was written all over his face. Uruha was actually slightly younger than he was.  
“We’re the same age,” Reita mused. “For some reason I thought you would be so much older than I am.”  
“Aoi was only two years older than we are.”  
“Wow,” Reita mused. “We are all so young. No wonder Ruki felt resentful of answering to us.”  
Uruha shook his head, “No, Ruki is still in his twenties. I guess brooding like he does makes you seem older, that and chain smoking. I quit, you know.”  
“So Ruki really has no claim to his position whatsoever,” Kai chimed in.  
The other two looked momentarily surprised, but welcomed that fact that Kai was with them in this discussion.  
“None at all,” Uruha answered him. “He’s made my life hell and I want him dead.”  
A thought occurred to Reita, “He’s not having you followed is he?”  
“No. He did for the first eight months or so but I’ve never done anything the least bit suspicious until very recently. When I make my move, I want him to be completely surprised. I’ve only started wearing men’s clothes again this month.”  
“I’m not even going to ask,” Kai muttered.  
“So you can move more freely this way. Anyone looking for you would be searching for a woman.”  
“Exactly.” Uruha seemed rather proud of himself. “They wouldn’t though. Ruki trusts me completely. He thinks he’s broken me, but I’m just biding my time. Come back with me, Reita. Ruki isn’t expecting to see me for two days yet. We could put together a plan and be rid of him now.”  
“Okay,” Reita agreed. “I always thought you should be the next Boss anyway.”  
“Me? No, no, no, NO… I have zero charisma. Besides, Aoi chose you. You are the rightful leader. Technically, you’ve been the Boss this whole time.”  
“Wait!” Kai cried. “You are a mob boss and you never told me? That’s the bee’s knees! I’ve been hanging with a mob boss!”  
“Kai, I’m not a mob boss,” Reita protested. He spoke to Uruha, “Look at me. I’m nothing like Aoi.”  
Uruha turned deathly serious. “Do you not have mirrors where you live or something?”  
“Actually,” Kai mused. “We don’t.”  
“Oh!” Uruha’s face lit up. He sprang off the couch and dragged Reita off toward the powder room.   
“Uru, let me go! What are you… Oh my goodness.”  
“See! You have that…thing. You see it, right?” Uruha insisted.  
Retia nodded, but his expression soured. “I just can’t. I’ve been gone so long. I’ve made too many mistakes. Crap!”  
He stumbled back from the force of Uruha’s blow to his stomach. “What the hell was that!?”  
Uruha was grinning like a manic, “You let your guard down. What a silly mistake.”  
Reita muttered all manner of foul language under this breath while heading back over to his chair. He felt Uruha approaching again, just a little too purposefully. He whirled around just in time to grab Uruha’s fist and pin in behind his back.  
“What’s wrong with you?”   
Uruha was grinning even wider. “Obviously, you won’t make that same mistake will you?”  
“You bet your ass I won’t!”   
“With you, I’d be happy to bet that any day.”  
Reita rolled his eyes and released Uruha.   
“Ruki punches you in the gut like that every day he has power,” Uruha pursued the issue. “What are you going to do about it?”  
Reita’s expression was veritably tortured as his internal consciousness batted itself. He didn’t feel up to this task but, when Uruha put it that way, he couldn’t let the matter rest either. What to do? What to do?  
“Uruha, gather all those you know are still loyal, then come back here. Too many of our enemies know where you live.”  
Uruha’s face lit up. “Sure thing, but are you certain this hotel is safe?”  
Reita nodded. “I always book this hotel for Kai because it’s owned by the Russian mafia.”  
“What? You intentionally put me in a mob-owned hotel,” Kai griped.  
Reita wasn’t bothered. “Yes. That way if your connection to me was discovered, Ruki couldn’t send his thugs to kill you in your sleep.”  
“That’s comforting. So while Uruha’s gathering the troops, we can put together a battle plan. I’m itching to put our sharp shooting to good use.”  
Reita’s expression hardened. “I can’t involve you in this. It’s my fight.”  
Kai stood and put his hands on his hips resolutely. “You’re my friend. Whatever trouble you’re in, I’ll stand by you to the end.”  
“I can’t dissuade you, can I?”  
“Nope.”  
Reita heaved a shaky sigh. “Alright men, let’s get to work.”


	8. It is time.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final showdown at "Pride Rock"

It was another swinging night at the speakeasy. Uruha sat at the piano as he did every Friday night.  
“You seem more energetic than usual,” Ruki commented. “Are you getting sex somewhere else?”  
Uruha continued to play with mischievous glint in his eye. “Yes Ruki, I confess. I’ve spent the last two nights having a steamy threesome with a couple of wild west cowboys.”  
Ruki burst out laughing. “Only you could think up something that weird. That’s why you’re supposed to keep quiet and just look pretty.”  
Uruha nodded but didn’t answer, careful to ‘keep quiet and just look pretty’, his sanguine colored dress the only thing betraying his true intentions for this evening.   
“Hey Uruha, I think your pair of cowboys just walked in. How ironic.”  
“Hm,” Uruha mumbled, not even bothering to look up. Though he put on a good show of surprise when Reita and Kai pulled out their guns and a group of mobsters filed in behind them.  
“Hands up you yellow bellied sewer rats. This is a stick up,” Kai yelled out in an exaggerated Texan accent. “I always wanted to say that,” he whispered to a bewildered Reita.   
“Look who we have here,” Ruki said smoothly, stalking toward the invaders. “Our little screw up thinks he can take what’s mine. Does your little posse know whose fault it is that Aoi’s dead?”  
In a rare show of temper, Reita holstered his gun, tackling Ruki.   
“My posse knows, but does yours?”  
Ruki just smiled, making Reita all the more furious. He grabbed Ruki’s throat. “Tell them! Tell them the truth!”   
“Okay,” Ruki choked and Reita let go of his neck. Ruki took a deep breath and announced unashamedly, “I did it. I shot Aoi myself and I’d do it again.”  
Anger spread like wildfire through the room and the battle began. During Reita and Ruki’s exchange, Kai and a few others snuck behind the bar. Through the spray of machine gun fire, Kai picked off Ruki’s mobsters with his pistols faster than they could raise their weapons. It was only when Kai had to reload that they could get any shots through.   
Meanwhile, Ruki turned over one of the metal tables just in time to stop a bullet that would have pieced his skull. He and Reita were now locked in a duel to the death. Neither could make any headway though. What Reita had in skill, Ruki matched with strategy, making sure Reita never got a clear shot. Then instead of a bang, Ruki’s gun simply clicked, out of ammo. Reita grinned in victory, moving in for the kill. Most of Ruki’s men were dead and Ruki was defenseless.   
Ruki had another trick up his sleeve, however. He grabbed Uruha, using him as a shield.   
“It’s over, Reita. You would never risk shooting Uruha. Face it, Reita. You’re too soft to cut it here. Go ba…”  
In a flash of speed, Uruha pulled a stiletto dagger out of his stocking, spun around and slit Ruki’s throat. Blood gushed from the wound, drenching Uruha, staining his hair and skin to match his dress. Then he turned to the stunned gaggle that was all that remained of Ruki’s supporters.   
“The usurper has fallen,” Uruha’s voice boomed through the room. “Go! Flee for your lives. Tell his other minions that they can follow Aoi’s chosen one, or die by my blade.”  
No one moved. Then the first scream sounded, followed by others and the sounds of falling weapons and running feet.  
“Yes!” Kai whopped. “We win.”  
Uruha wiped some of the blood out of his eyes before turning to Reita. “What now, Boss?”


End file.
